A reliable source has asked us to pray for the situation in Burundi.

Burundi, a small country in the heart of Africa, the second poorest country in the world with a population of just over 10.5 million people is facing a very dangerous time. In the last civil war in the 1990s 300,000 people died. In the region over the last 22 years between 800,000 and 1 million people died in neighbouring Rwanda and a further 5.4 million in the Congo (formerly Zaire). In Burundi bodies are now being found on the streets of the capital Bujumbura and other areas nearly every day. Political violence is increasing and could turn inter-ethnic. Language being used is chillingly similar to the language in Rwanda prior to the 1994 Genocide of the Tutsis. There are already over 300,000 refugees in countries surrounding Burundi, and if the violence doesn't stop there is the potential to destabilise the region. Please pray for an end to the violence, for peace and reconciliation and a just solution to the internal difficulties.

A Prayer for Burundi

For the beautiful but poor country of Burundi, we pray dear Lord.
For the population living in fear and dread, afraid of the unknown and the uncertain, we ask for peace.
For those fleeing whether in Burundi or abroad, we pray for safety, freedom from disease and famine and the security that they may return home.
For those seeking the way of violence that they would stop and seek resolution through non-violence.
For the surrounding countries that they may remain at peace, act justly and broker reconciliation.
Enable an end to violence so that Burundi may become a beacon of hope rather than a place of fear and death.
We ask these things in the name of Him who carried all our human failings on the cross, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen